DirecTV Now Review: Is It Worth $35 a Month?

This site and certain third parties would like to set cookies and access and collect data to provide you with personalized content and advertisements.

If you would like this personalized experience, simply click accept. If you would like to opt-out of this data collection, please click "decline" to continue without personalization.

X

We need your help!

This site and certain third parties would like to set cookies and access and collect data to provide you with personalized content and advertisements.

If you would like this personalized experience, simply click accept. If you would like to opt-out of this data collection, please click "decline" to continue without personalization.

People are cutting their cable in droves and a lot of companies are putting out their own online streaming options to compete.

SlingTV is one of the most well-known, their funny ads help, but there's a relatively new entrant to the fray with bigger name recognition. (for whatever it's worth, Sling TV is a subsidiary if DISH Network, which itself is quite well known)

DirecTV Now is DirecTV's online streaming service that works without the need for a clunky satellite dish. 🙂

What is DirecTV Now?

DirecTV Now is the online streaming service of DirecTV, known for its satellite broadcast cable services. They're a subsidiary of AT&T, having been acquired in mid-2015.

In late 2016, DirecTV launched DirecTV Now as its foray into no contract, “over the top” internet television service in direct competition with SlingTV and Playstation Vue.

You can watch DirecTV Now on nearly any device that has an internet connection and can stream video. Many smart TVs now have that capability but if you have an older television, you can use a streaming attachment (like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, or Google Chromecast) to give it internet capabilities. You can also watch it on your computer, iPad, and other smartphones.

A deeper dive into the channels shows me that Live a Little probably covers the bulk of channels for most people. Sports fans may want to move up the different tiers to include secondary ESPN properties, MLB, Big Ten Network, SEC Network, Tennis and Travel.

Go Big includes even more like NBA, NHL and the ever popular Olympic Channel. 🙂 That tier also gives you some more news like BBC World News.

The Gotta Have It adds a slew of StarzEncore channels.

Premium Channels are available for a small additional charge (cheaper than SlingTV's add on):

HBO: $5/month

Cinemax: $5/month

Showtime: $8/month

Starz: $8/month

This is in addition to 25,000+ on-demand titles available in the library.

Is It Worth It?

I think over the top streaming services are the future of television. There's no reason to pay $100+ for cable television (plus equipment rental fees) when you can get something for as little as $35 a month. Heck, even if you pay $70 a month you'll be saving $360 a year!

The question is whether the packages have the channels you watch. If they do, you're golden.

According to some other sites, AT&T has been testing a DirecTV Now DVR and it's in beta. The DVR, plus a new app to replace the current app, will give you the ability to fast forward and pause live TV, store shows for watching later, and supported on a wide array of devices. The DVR is on the horizon.

DirecTV Now vs. Sling TV

SlingTV is one of the most popular cable alternatives (read our SlingTV review), so we wondered how they compared.

SlingTV can be slightly cheaper but fewer channels. The lowest SlingTV tier is $20 a month for thirty channels but the highest tier only gets you 50 channels at $40 a month. DirecTV Now's lowest tier is $35 for 60+ channels, so it's lowest tier gets you more channels than SlingTV's highest. SlingTV has a lot of “Extras” packages like Sports ($10/mo) and Kids ($5/mo) that you can add on, increasing the channel count. In this way, SlingTV offers more customization.

There have been reports that SlingTV has buffering issues for some users (we always recommend making full use of the 7-day trial to see if you're one of those homes).

DirecTV Now lets you stream to two devices at once, you can only do one on SlingTV unless you get the higher packages. Finally, neither has a contract – so you can cancel at any time (and start back up again).

DirecTV Now Promotions

From time to time, DirecTV runs promotions where you can get free equipment, like Roku devices, when you sign up. We will try to keep this list updated but with so much competition, things come and go quickly.

The current pricing promotion is DirecTV Now is only $10/month with any qualifying AT&T Unlimited wireless plan. If you have a qualifying plan, you get a $25/month credit so your $35/month fee drops down to $10. After 22 GB of data usage, AT&T may slow your speeds. HBO is also included for AT&T Unlimited Choice and Plus customers too.